Fish Ogre

Gavin, In the past, I have always done my taxes myself. But this year I am considering seeing a professional. What can I expect the services of a CPA to cost me in preparing my tax return this year and advising my on future possible deductions? I have a day job with a standard W-2. The last several years I have not had enough deductions to file long form and have just filed with the standard deduction. I started doing some work on the side last year and received a 1099. I have a home office deduction, some mileage, a cell phone bill and a few misc computer/office supply expenses. Thanks

Thanks for the help guys. My bags are packed and I have all of your suggestions covered. We leave Monday night. Wish me luck.

The only spoons that I own are small daredevils. I assume that you guys are referring to the heavy slab type spoons. Is there a specific type, size or brand you would recommend? Guys, I don't have to choose between the gulf or the bay. I will be staying in a house on the beach for eleven days. I can do both everyday if I feel inclined.

I am heading to Florida on September 29th and will be staying on St George island. I plan on fishing the surf on the gulf side in the mornings and will also spend a few days fishing the bay out of a kayak. I plan on only fishing with artificial lures. I will be getting my tackle together this week. What should I take with me? I would appreciate suggestions for lures and or techniques. Thanks

The dam and the coves closest to the ramp are easily accessible to a shore bound angler. But a kayak is probably the best way to access the entire lake. There is a lot of standing timber and aquatic vegetation to deal with.

I did my first solo overnight float trip a few weeks ago. I did it out of a "Drifter" model Ocean kayak. I took the following items: Tent (7' x 9' dome) packed in its own dedicated dry bag (a long thin one designed for a self inflating sleeping pad. Air mattress,a battery powered air pump, fire starting supplies (paper, starter sticks etc) and a 6' x 8' tarp all packed in a 20 liter dry bag. Sleeping bag, inflatable pillow, sheet & blanket all packed in a 20 liter dry bag. Warm clothes, jacket, and a fresh set of clothing for the next day all packed in a 10 liter dry bag. A large bulky camp chair. My Kindle fire so I could read if needed. A pair of sandals. 4 cigars. And all of the normal stuff i take on a day trip (First aid kit, Toilet paper, bug spray, sunblock etc) 2 spinning rods, 1 fly rod and couple of tackle boxes. I really only had to account for dinner the first night and breakfast in the morning so went pretty light on food. I took a pack of hot dogs & buns for dinner and donuts and milk for breakfast. I also packed plenty of snack foods (Can of cashews, beef jerky,chips etc.) I cooked the the hot dogs over my camp fire using an extendable fork.. I think I took about 12 bottles of water, a few cans of soda and a large bottle of Gatorade and a 16 ounce jug of milk. I froze 4 of the water bottles. A few water bottles that and the food that did not need to be kept cold, just got tossed in with other stuff inside the kayak. Here is pic of my loaded boat. The majority of the stuff I took is inside the hull. All that it in the tank well is my fishing stuff, the cooler, normal day trip stuff. That is the bulky chair strapped across the back of the cooler. Next time that I do an over nighter in similar weather conditions, I will take a sock hat to keep my head warm. It got down into the low 40's that night and I got a little cold. I use my tarp to cover my boat at night just keep the heavy dew from getting everything wet. The key for me is using multiple small dry bags instead of fewer larger ones. I am limited by the size of the front hatch. I easily could have taken a camp stove or any other pieces of small equipment. I actually brought a lot of my food and drinks home with me. It was an awesome trip, I would highly recommend the experience to anyone one considering it.

A belated welcome to you. If you tell us where you are located, maybe someone can offer you some advice.

A fun album to check out is "Fade to Bluegrass" by Iron Horse. It is a metallica tribute album.

Definitely not the same as a tarpon. Leg room shouldn't be an issue unless you are over 7' tall. I certainly wouldn't try to stand up in mine.

I fished Port Hudson lake from a kayak today. The water was quite murky today, but every other time that I have been there it was clearer. While I have used my float tube there, I would not recommend it. There are so many submerged logs and trees it is sometimes hard to find room to kick. There is also a lot of aquatic vegetation that it unpleasant to kick through. When you unexpectedly brush your bare leg against an underwater log or a patch of vegetation, it is sometimes hard to not scream like a girl.

My favorite way to fish in Florida was fishing the surf from the beach. I caught several different species on a large inline spinner using normal bass tackle. The redfish in the picture was caught using 6 pound mono. I went out every morning at sunrise and caught fish eveyday. Needlefish As other have said just make sure you rinse the salt water off of your equipment at the end of the day. Good Luck to you.

I carry 3, using a similar setup on an almost identical kayak.

You might want to check the river gauges first. The river was very high this morning. Good luck.

Bamboo and old fiberglass rods would take a set easily. Heat will accelerate the process. Modern graphite rods are almost completely immune from this. But I would not leave one bent and in the trunk of my car all summer.

So are these fish here because of a spring spawning run or are they present year round?